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Does BMW’s Withdrawal from WSB Signal a Shift Away from Sportbikes?

When BMW sold Husqvarna after a very short period of ownership, it shocked many industry observers. It turns out that BMW had made a decision to abandon any focus on off-road motorcycles as part of “realigning its BMW Motorrad business.” Most importantly, it made the following statement at the time: “The focus of the realignment will be on urban mobility and e-mobility.” Apparently, this is where BMW sees its greatest growth in market share and profits.

Just two days ago, BMW issued a press release (re-printed below) announcing that its factory support of a WSB team would end with this 2013 season. Interestingly, it used similar language in describing this move when it stated: “BMW Motorrad is continuing its long-term strategic realignment of the brand. This strategy also affects BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s activities, which as a next step will also be restructured.”

Of course, BMW has built a fine superbike in the S1000RR (the HP4 limited edition is pictured above), But is it really committed to this segment of the market long term? Large displacement sportbike sales are down in most markets, and BMW has even agreed to supply Bimota with S1000RR engines for the BB2 (pictured below). One has to wonder whether the WSB announcement could signal a shift almost as sudden as the departure of Husqvarna from BMW ownership. Here is the press release:

BMW Motorrad continues its strategic realignment in motorsport. With effect from the end of the 2013 season, BMW Motorrad will terminate its commitment in the FIM Superbike World Championship in order to strengthen the customer sports programme. Munich, 24th July 2013. BMW Motorrad is continuing its long-term strategic realignment of the brand. This strategy also affects BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s activities, which as a next step will also be restructured. At the end of the 2013 season, BMW Motorrad Motorsport will terminate its factory involvement in the FIM Superbike World Championship. The main focus and some of the resources of BMW Motorrad’s commitment to sport will switch to other motorsport activities like the successful international customer sports programme from 2014 on.

“BMW Motorrad Motorsport will end its involvement in the World Superbike Championship after this season”, explained Stephan Schaller, General Director BMW Motorrad. “This is consistent with the strategic realignment of our brand. BMW Motorrad will now focus on the further expansion of the very successful product portfolio over 500 cc, the expansion of product segments under 500 cc, e-mobility and the development of market potential in emerging economies like Brazil and Asia. Only those who act consistently today are well prepared for the challenges of tomorrow. BMW Motorrad will remain involved in motorsport and in doing so we will focus on the international customer sport in all its facets. I want to thank everybody who has supported us on this long and successful journey.”

“The team is a very professional and motivated group of people and I am sure they will continue to do everything to end the season on a high note”, commented Andrea Buzzoni, General Manager BMW Motorrad WSBK. “Twenty thirteen is a good year, the atmosphere within the team is great and also our riders, Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies, are doing an excellent job. We are satisfied with the current results and, of course, we will keep working hard. Therefore I am convinced we can celebrate more successes with Marco and Chaz as the season goes on. I am sorry about the decision, but I understand the strategic decision making of the company. I want to thank all the people who are involved in this project.”

BMW Motorrad Motorsport has run a successful worldwide customer sport programme for several years. From the beginning, customer teams and riders have celebrated numerous victories and titles in international and national championships with the BMW S 1000 RR. From the start of this season, some of them have also fielded the brand new DDC equipped BMW HP4, and celebrated several race wins. Details of the increased future commitment in customer sport will be announced in due course.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport entered the FIM Superbike World Championship in 2009. After a learning phase, it has established itself of a winning team in this highly contested series. To date, the German manufacturer has celebrated 11 race wins and a total of 33 podium finishes with the race version of the BMW S 1000 RR. The most successful season so far was 2012, when BMW finished runner-up in the manufacturers’ classification and fought for both the manufacturers’ and the riders’ titles until the very last race.

73 Comments

I believe BMW will continue to develop the S1000RR as the technology they’re using for chassis and engine controls in the rest of the lineup are first introduced in the S1000RR. The Dynamic Damping Control in the HP4 will, in my estimation, likely appear in the RT, which will also likely use the same chassis and engine control systems that were first developed in the S and refined for touring/street duty in the K-GT. I think the S is their development lab, just like Honda used to use the Prelude for their automotive technology.

Additionally, for a company that long suffered under the reputation of slow, overweight bikes for old folks, bailing out of the sport bike market won’t do much to keep their sporting heritage alive. If there’s one thing BMW is always concious of, it’s their heritage, especially as of late as they try to separate themselves from not only the Japanese, but the other Euro manufacturers.

BMW’s stated aim when it built the S1000RR was to enter the Superbike World Championship, spend the first year learning,the second year gaining some podiums and the third year going for gold. However, incompetence saw them in a joint venture with Alpha Racing that led to too many egos and not enough expertise. The bikes were bloody awful that first year, they started going in the right direction when they got Davide Tardozzi on board as team manager, then they sacked him before he’d finished even one year of a three year contract, and chased their tails for another year. In 2012 they finally started winning some races, and this year the bikes seem competitive but they sure have not dominated and they still have not won the championship. So that is a fail.

When I read the word “e-mobility” the first thing I think of is Rascal Scooters. Or the similar motorized carts that fat people use to get around their local Wal-Mart.

Does focusing on “e-mobility” and “urban mobility” mean that in addition to sport bikes, that BMW will also be de-emphasizing (surely only one step away from abandoning) touring and adventure bikes as well? I hope not.

I remember years ago, Motorad of America proudly proclaimed “If you can’t run with the big dogs, you better stay on the porch.” This was relative to the introduction of the oil head GS. It appears they now have to heed their own advice relative to sport bikes.

Since they are the big dog…how does that work? Most people who have the experience and skill to ride all the top open class bikes* have the S1000R on top and have done for a few years. The rest are still playing catchup.

re: “BMW has built a fine superbike in the S1000RR (the HP4 limited edition is pictured above), But is it really committed to this segment of the market long term?”

again, BMW pre-sold the entire 2013 production of the HP4 shown above before they ever reached the dealers. mind you, the HP4 is $25 grand. that’s a whopping $10,000 dollar premium over the pedestrian model.

the HP4 is what’s currently running and leading in WSTK. so it’s at least 1000 units for homologation per WSBK rules (may even be 2000?). basically at least 1 per dealer globally. stateside these were definitely sold to individuals. can’t speak on who’s bought what in the rest of the planet, but no shortage of cash in the land of 6 cylinder motorbikes, twin turbo V8’s, and $45 grand carbon fiber Ev’s. BMW just unveiled the first vehicle today in their forthcoming “I” line up…

re: “One only has to realize the WSBK is heading towards Superstock-esque rules to understand why BMW is comfortable backing away from the series, in a full-factory capacity at least. As the rules shift towards this restricted & simplified format”

and here it is. I was deliberately not commenting and waiting to see who here on MD was an actual consumer of WSBK and let someone else put forth the answer for once. and the award goes to agent “double nickel”.

guys, the S1 has already bagged 2 championships in WSTK. with the rules essentially morphing into that come the end of 2013, Munich’s job is done here. the S1’s going to be the kit of choice in the austerity era. let the continued uploading of cash to the Roundel commence post-haste.

also, all of you who are lucky enough to receive the BeIn Sports channel that actually airs WSBK here in the states say “I”…!? (crickets) yeah see, once you factor in how the “legs” have also been cut out from under the sport by Don Carmelo in terms of viewer access, you don’t have to hit a company like BMW over the head to show them where they can save a Deutsche Mark. hanz and franz are ALL over it.

if you look back through history, you’ll notice this is BOP (Bavarian Operating Procedure) for their motorsport activities in general be it bike side (Dakar, boxer cup, power cup, HP2 endurance, etc) or car side (F1, Mini world rally, WTCC, etc). “Cancelling Christmas” is what they do. in fact, they do it so much, i’m almost tempted to say they do it on purpose now ’cause maybe they’ve found it triggers an increase in sales…? ie. reverse psychology… people tend to crave what they are “denied” or what they can’t have. admittedly, just a theory, but they seem to do it even in instances where it’s not warranted…? i’ll let you decide.

One only has to realize the WSBK is heading towards Superstock-esque rules to understand why BMW is comfortable backing away from the series, in a full-factory capacity at least. As the rules shift towards this restricted & simplified format, privateer outfits will be more than capable of performing at the front since unobtanium parts and limitless development will effectively be off the table.

I think the S1000RR was always intended as a marketing campaign for BMW with the main purpose of the bike to wake people up to the brand, particularly the current lot in their late-20s and 30s that are joining the ranks of the well-heeled. It has certainly done that, and much more effectively that any traditional marketing campaign could have done.

While podium finishes are important components of many brands, it never was for BMW. It is possible the bike will stay in the lineup and still sell fairly well though I suspect we will see it depart in a couple of years once sales drop to some predefined level determined by BMW management. I am certain that the RR has the lowest margin of any bike they make; it is priced very competitively and is a technological marvel. Besides, I think their original mission was accomplished.

That is correct: sportbikes do not make any money. The reason Honda,Yam etc continue to sell them is for image. They have a million bike market for scooters in asia. BMW does not have any $1500 scooters for sale in the Phillipines etc.

I think Endoman is right. Forget the term Yuppies, but not enough people with the cash to shovel out for a $20k sport bike want to buy a BMW sport bike. Sure they sold some, many to die hard BMW riders who wanted more performance, and undoubtedly some to well off individuals who wanted to try the brand. But there are still a lot of people who buy sport bikes who want a recognizable name in sport bikes (like Ninja etc) and who are probably making monthly payments on the bike so are keeping that cost as low as possible. The fact they didn’t come out with a low cost 600 is probably part of this problem.

Makes perfect sense. The S1000RR is brilliant but it competes in the shrinking, commodity liter sportbike market. It was just a matter of time that supersport performance caught up to open-class and open class got so powerful as to be questionably useful for daily riding.

BMW has proven its concept, gained market and mindshare and now is doing the smart thing: defending share in markets that they own and establishing dominance is those that are strategically valuable. Being king of the ebike and scooter world is much more valuable than being king of the open-class world.

It’s worth noticing how little the Japanese litre bikes have evolved over the past 4 years (or more). There used to be a sure two-year overhaul – lighter, smaller, sharper – but only the Kawasaki has changed significantly in that period. So the BMW is still one of the fresher models in that category.
Kawasaki are running their previous model 600cc bike in WSS, the Yamaha is I-don’t-know-how old, the Honda has scarcely changed and the Suzuki has had a facelift.
I guess that we can start to grasp that developing new from-the-ground-up motorcycles is expensive business, and the accountants have got the engineers’ attention at the moment.

I think the withdrawal is smart, responsible business. BMW came into the series, raised the bar and amply demonstrated it’s engineering abilities– even if Aprilia did better. Now move on awhile and spend money developing transportation alternatives, maybe finally real alternative(s) to automobiles in certain situations. Meanwhile, their S1000RR will remain viable in the sport bike market for a few more years. Being one of the smaller manufacturers requires some self control on the spending side.

Raised the bar is probably a stretch. They were competitive immediately, but never won a championship, and guys like Tom Sykes winning regularly on a Kawasaki probably didn’t make the $ all that appealing to them.

I’d say “raised the bar” is an understatement… perhaps not in racing as you say, but definitely for the production segment. The S1000RR is a relatively comfortable cruise missile with heated grips to boot that set standards other mfgs are still struggling to reach.

I don’t think BMW will stop making the S1000RR. Before the S1000RR BMW was known for touring bikes and the GS. No one took them seriously as a manufacturer of performance motorcycles. Then BMW made the S1000RR and the motorcycle press loved it. It also brought a different demographic into the showroom. BMW have also shown they can compete at the top level of production racing. I think BMW feels they have made their point and don’t need to spend money on a factory race team anymore.

That’s how it was with HD, but sales of BMW are not in the toilet, they’ve been doing rather well compared to many other manufacturers. And that largely thanks to the new models they introduced just in time to broaden their user base. As a matter of fact SR1000 was a sales hit well before they started to get decent results on the track, simply because it compared well to other road going literbikes.

I’m quite happy for BMW or any other manufacturer to drop out of racing, as I don’t believe racing has any serious impact on sales, nor does it contribute in any meaningful way to development of road machines any more. It looks like BMW agrees.

Nope, it’s been said before. BMW managed quite well without racing until recently. They even managed to develop and sell S1000R without racing it, as the road-going model came first. Whatever development takes place on the track, could (and does) take place in non-racing environment as well, only at a fraction of the cost and with complete focus on real life suitability instead of trickle-down effect you *might* get from racing.

Also, I did say, ‘ANY MORE’… Right now the best selling bikes are cheap, economical and low powered – how does CBR250R or NC700 benefit from Honda’s efforts in MotoGP, exactly? NC700 engine uses some new (for a bike) technologies to lower the fuel consumption, yet they didn’t come from MotoGP with its fuel limits – they came from Honda’s experience with ordinary car engines.

What we mainly get from racing now is bikes that are uncomfortable and almost unusable on the roads and don’t even sell all that well… ANY MORE.

So what you’re saying is that unless technology originates from racing then all bikes don’t benefit from racing. And of all the manufactures to pick from to prove your point you choose – Honda.

Sorry Andy, you’re way off.

From purely a technological standpoint racing has improved the breed. You can run simulators all you want, but it’s race teams breaking stuff while running equipment past their limits that initiates rapid development. Profitability depends on a multitude of factors (I never understood the concept of Diminishing Returns or how they apply to motorcycles until you typed ‘anymore’ in all-caps, so thanks for the lesson).

As for your requested exact examples..

Honda has used PGM-FI on motorcycles – including the current NC700 and CBR250R – since the early 80’s, but it was in the 990 GP era that they were forced develop their systems to control power rather than maximize peak power output. The NC700 uses a derivative of dual clutch transmission (DCT) technology originated in ATV’s but turned into a (brief) secret weapon on their RC.

Do yourself a favor and pick yourself up a copy of Neil Spalding’s ‘MotoGP Technology’. It covers the golden 990 era but it’s still relevant.

Racing should be changed so that the bikes are more closely related to those that the customer rides. Going double the speed limit in first gear is not exactly the recipe for a long term relationship. The European equivalent of the xr1200 series is what is needed. If that means Rossi is on a Triumph adventure bike, so be it.

From the numbers I’ve received, BMW’s American market share last year was only 2.6%
– despite the proliferation of engine configurations – compared to 3.4% in the heyday of the airhead, when they made only one.
“Only those who act consistently today are well prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.” explained Stephan Schaller, General Director BMW Motorrad (above.)
Too bad they couldn’t figure that out at about the same time as HD.

This is from BMW’s press release in January of this year. Their sales have been flat relative to growth in the market. “January 7, 2013 – (BMW Motorrad Press Release, Edited by webBikeWorld) – BMW Motorrad supplied 106,358 motorcycles and maxi scooters to its customers worldwide in 2012, thereby achieving a new all-time sales high.

This compares to 104,286 units sold in 2011, an increase for 2012 of +2.0%.”

er… not true. the latest version of the S1000 has been refined and tested on the track and is a better bike than the first version. like the Panigale it wasnt competitive in its first year or the second. the racetrack is the place to refine and develop a performance motorcycle like it or not.

Strange. In this case (above images) the original bike (BMW) looks better than the Bimota powered by the BMW engine.

What an iconic motorcycle brand is BMW. I was saddened by the closing of the BMW-Triumph dealer just N. of Salt Lake City. The store was beautiful, well stocked, and well staffed, in a way few if any other brand can muster.

If you can’t afford a BMW, just start visiting your local dealer. Don’t be surprised if you eventually can not resist the allure and pride of ownership associated with the the brand. I owned only two, a black 70s R90/6 with Windjammer fairing and mandarin 00 R1100GS. Both were trouble free and much fun. The 900 always got over 50mpg on the freeway, even two up and even cruising well over the speed limit (super high gearing).

I’ve spent plenty of time in BMW shops, I even worked in one for a few months taking a break from high tech. I’ve also owned a dozen BMWs. I really think BMW has made strides in the past few years but the terrible engineering on my later (late 1980s to 1990s era) BMWs makes it really easy for me to “resist the allure and pride of ownership associated with the the brand”. It is hard to put into words how much pride of ownership I felt when my K75S put out a smoke screen worthy of James Bond in front of 20 or 30 Japanese bike riders because the morons at BMW put the cylinder head on the wrong side of the bike. I have two ex-BMW owner friends who feel about the same way, one rides a Guzzi the other a Ducati. Just wanted to let you know hanging out in BMW shops doesn’t always work.

As for BMW dropping out of racing, I’m about as shocked as Capt. Renault in Casablanca when he discovered there was gambling in Rick’s American Cafe. Racing is probably going to have a much lower profile over the next 10 or 20 years, BMW is smart to get out. I say this as a life long racing fan who watched both the F1 race on TV and the AMA mile in Sacramento on the ‘net this weekend.

Motorcycle road racing – and as a result sport bikes – is a mess right now. MotoGP and WSBK need to join forces so we can get back to packed fields of the world’s fastest racers on a variety of innovative and competitive equipment. I miss the golden 990 GP era but the world economy that made funding possible is long gone and it’s not coming back in the foreseeable future.

A single world series with a economically-sustainable level of innovation is probably close to the Moto2 platform. Honda will storm off in a pissy-fit but if we gain all-out efforts from every other manufacturer then so be it. Sometimes you have to cut off a finger to save the arm.

Most of the current Japanese sport bikes are 4-5 years old and I’ll bet we see the European bikes stay on that pattern too. I think they realized that they were breaking even on sales of the 1000r and knew that they’d never get the price high enough to be profitable nor sell enough of them. As a brand builder it made sense- make these, sell more of the other stuff, but that was never who BMW was. Shame really, they made an incredible motorcycle.

I think that’s really the reason myself. Back in the day racing may have been more of a force in driving sales on the floor but perhaps today that model doesn’t work as well, at least for BMW and some others?

I think we’ll see a portion of that budget going to private BMW efforts. It wouldn’t surprise me to see multiple teams fielding top-10 capable BMWs next year.Let’s not confuse “no factory support” with “no support.”

No I really don’t think it means any such thing. BMW motorcycles has a history of only maintaining racing teams with winning success. If they don’t win they don’t run a team any more. They did this twice in the Paris to Dakar Rally for example. They raced the original GSPD for several years and the pulled out win competition started catching up. They did the same again with the F650GS and R800 (modified 1100GS) Dakar bikes. Now they’ve gone racing in WSBK and guess what again after just a few years they’re calling it quits. It seems to be a pattern. In none of the previous cases did it mean they quit production of a bike that was selling well it just meant they got the data and results they were looking for from competition to develop the next machines and it’s time to move forward with what they do to make money which is sell road bikes which includes the S1000.

While what you say is true about Dakar, let’s not pretend BMW was dominating WSB and the competition caught up. BMW didn’t win a championship, I think they found it was just too much money for the benefit they were receiving.

Gentlemen and pillion riders: when BMW suggests to you that they will concentrate on the market segments under 500 cc and over 500 cc, plus e-mobility by virtue of batteries and that they intend developing Brazilian and Asian markets, you should take very careful note.

This is a shot across the bows of established manufacturers.

It would suggest that their forthcoming market penetrations will not be driven by success on the race track, but in providing a much wider range of urban and suburban two-wheeled transport. At prices to meet market requirements.

If you have followed BMW over the years, you will understand they mean business.

They have the Bavarian engineering muscle, the facilities in cheaper labour nations and the will to make much less expensive products to meet demand for motorbikes and scooters in regions where expanding incomes can generate profits currently owned by lower quality and less-well engineered products.

The troglodytes don’t understand that Taiwan and China are different. To them, it’s all about prejudice and they don’t want to hear anything suggesting that Taiwan and China are not the same. They won’t consider the evidence that the Taiwanese Kymco-built BMW engines are fine products with admirable performance, reliability, and longevity.

“They won’t consider the evidence that the Taiwanese Kymco-built BMW engines are fine products with admirable performance, reliability, and longevity.”

mein sides ache with laughter… see ADV and the show us your worst thread(s). The Kymco built singles are pieces of garbage. Also check out the upcoming NHTSA class action lawsuit against BMW for failing swingarm/final drive assemblies… And and.. explain to me why the Rotax built singles are still worth so much in the used market.

We troglodytes do understand, and use or wear Chinese/Taiwanese/Japanese/Vietnamese products on a daily basis. I still would like to buy a German BMW, English Triumph, Japanese Honda and American Harley. I/We know it’s not been possible for many years but I’d personally like to see the nations and manufacturers show some pride and put the origin of their components and products in plain sight and labeled to make informed decisions.

My gf and I just went looking at cars and noticed at the VW dealer that each car showed where final assembly was done, where the parts came from and in what percentage, and where the engine and transmission came from. Very cool stuff!

Sad. I don’t understand how you are producing argueably the best open class sport bike, winning races, living up to the thoughts of performance that your name commands and you are going to switch focus to e-mobility. WTF is e-mobility anyway. Whatever it is, it sounds slow. What makes bikes like BMW’s special is that they aren’t for everyone, if everyone has one… well there isn’t much of a reason not to have something else either.